Growing a Modern Recruitment Business

Letting go of 50% of my entire workforce in 2023, people might have thought I’d gone mad.

This is recruitment; ask most leaders in this industry how you grow your business, and they will tell you to put more bums on seats.

I’ve been there, I’ve done it, and I don’t think that is how you grow a modern recruitment business.

This year, my goal is to increase our revenue with less people than I would have ever thought was possible.  

Getting to this point

In 2008 I jumped on a plane to Dubai having never stepped foot in Middle East before.

This was also right in the middle of the world facing a huge recession, it was a risky move.

Although from the outside it was the wrong place and wrong time.

For me it was the right place and the right time, and I started my own recruitment business.

Since then, MCG Talent has opened offices in not only Dubai, but also in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sri Lanka.

When I started out on my own it took me 2 years to hire my first employee, but from then on I was in the constant hamster wheel of hiring more people to try and grow the business.

Growing the business

Having started in an advertising agency and then moved to recruitment – it was the norm to grow your business through adding more people.

There has been points where I have substantially increased headcount and the bottom line hasn’t budged.

The truth? I no longer believe simply adding more people – there must be a better way.

As a result, I’m now actively going against the grain and growing a recruitment business without trying to increase headcount.

Is this another risky move? Maybe.

Is it a risk I wholeheartedly believe in? Absolutely.